In a first, Syrian mortars hit Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon, which was hit by Syrian mortars for the first time Wednesday. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) Two mortar shells fired from inside Syria hit Mount Hermon in northern
Israel on Wednesday for the first time since the onset of the civil war in
Syria, Israel Hayom reported. No one
was wounded and there was no damage to property.

The ski resort atop the mountain was closed to visitors
for two hours. According to the Israel Defense Forces, the shelling was likely
the result of errant firing.

A previously unknown armed pro-Palestinian group,
however, claimed responsibility for the mortar attack, releasing a statement
that it fired the two projectiles against “the Zionist enemy” in commemoration
of one of the group’s fallen fighters and for Palestinian Nakba (“catastrophe”)
Day, which marksthe declaration of Israel’s independence.

According to the Palestinian Maan news agency, the Abdul Qader al-Husseini brigades on Thursday
claimed responsibility for the mortar attack, posting a video online showing
rockets being fired. Maan could not independently verify the video.

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